


Confessions of Emotional Teenage Boys

by Marheginglong



Category: 3Below (Cartoon), Trollhunters (Cartoon)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Boys In Love, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Steli, eli and steve, i just, im in so much pain, steve and eli
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-09
Updated: 2018-11-09
Packaged: 2019-08-20 22:36:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16564421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marheginglong/pseuds/Marheginglong
Summary: “Eli! I’m here, Eli, it’s okay! You’re safe now!”“St-Steve? Is that you?” This is as much as he can manage before falling out of consciousness again; pained, but relieved.A mix of tears and sweat is running down Steve’s face and he wipes his forehead on the sleeve of his shirt as he chokes out the words that seem impossible to get out.“Eli… I am so sorry.”





	Confessions of Emotional Teenage Boys

**Author's Note:**

> The Creepslayerz get some sort of call but Steve is busy at a "Popular Guy thing" (thank you Freddie) and can't go so he tells Eli to stay home and that someone else will take care of it. Wanting to prove himself useful and worthy, Eli decides to go investigate on his own. Something happens and Eli gets hurt and has to go to the hospital. I don't have details, only angst. Steve shows up and proceeds to have a meltdown.
> 
> The only other notes I have are just thought drabbles so here ya go:  
> theyre in looooove, they love eachother, i just... steve is so emotional, just AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!  
> Yes obviously realistically jim claire toby and them would be at the hospital too, but this isnt about them!!!!!!, just let me have this, im in so much pain, i cried writing this, i cried reading the edited version, im crying now. basically this was very emotionally difficult to write and I hope you cry too. In a good way.
> 
> Not really. 
> 
> Editing/Beta reading done by hironerdmada - THANK YOU SO MUCH I OWE YOU CHICKEN NUGGETS!!!
> 
> My Trollhunters tumblr is buttsnackbinch

“Out of my way!”  
  
Steve comes barreling down the hallway of Arcadia Oaks General Hospital with no regard for who he may or may not be running over, his heart racing harder than it ever has during any football game. He’s hyperventilating, sweating outrageously, and every breath is agony. But he can’t stop now—he  _has_  to find the room.  
  
“206, 207, 208…” The Spring King, bully-turned-Creepslayer, counts the room numbers aloud to himself as he desperately searches for what seems like the most important number in the universe. Orderlies and nurses are probably shouting, but he can’t hear them.  
  
“209! Found it!” Steve rushes into the room like a lightning bolt, nearly knocking over the medical supply cart in his haste.  
  
“ELI!”  
  
Steve stops dead in his tracks a couple feet into the room, so not to bump the bed where his best friend—well, more like boyfriend—sleeps. He walks closer to the bed and, ever so gently, leans over towards Eli. He grabs the small boy’s face and cradles it in his hands. Eli is barely awake.  
  
“Eli! I’m here, Eli, it’s okay! You’re safe now!”

  
“St-Steve? Is that you?” This is as much as he can manage before falling out of consciousness again; pained, but relieved.  
  
A mix of tears and sweat is running down Steve’s face and he wipes his forehead on the sleeve of his shirt as he chokes out the words that seem impossible to get out.  
  
“Eli… I am so sorry.”

   


“I’m sorry, sir. Visiting hours are over.” The nurse is standing in the doorway with all of her weight on her left side, waiting for Steve to leave.  
  
“I’m  _not_  leaving hi—“  
  
“It’s okay, Janet. Let him stay.” Doctor Lake had met Steve and Eli a number of times during various Trollhunting and Creepslaying adventures, and she was well aware of their feelings for each other.  
  
The nurse shifts her weight and stands straight in respect for her superior. “Are you sure? Protocol says—”  
  
“I said it’s fine. Leave them be.”  
  
Janet quickly nods and walks away.  
  
The amount of feelings going through Steve is immense. Just that simple gesture gives him such warmth in his heart, knowing he could stay the night with the person that means the most to him. He wants to tell the doctor how much it means to him, how much he appreciates it, how much he would have been in agony if he had to leave, how much he loves her for allowing him to stay. Yet, all he can muster is, “Thank you, Doctor Lake.”  
  
“You’re welcome, Steve. Any time.” She starts out the door. “But, maybe let’s try to avoid coming here too much more, yeah?” She smiles at the boy sitting by the bed.  
  
He smiles weakly. “Yeah.”  
  
_Tick._  
  
_Tick._  
  
_Tick._  
  
A constant reminder of every second that Eli is unconscious. Another second that Eli is hurt. Another second that Steve is  _useless_. Another second of guilt. Sure, he told Eli not to go alone, but he should have known that Eli wouldn’t just stay at home knowing someone was in trouble.  
  
_Why did I go to that_ stupid _event, I don’t even like those guys!_ the worried boy thinks to himself. _I should have gone_ _with_ him! _How could I let him go alone…_ Steve knows in the back of his mind that he is being irrational, knows that Eli made the choice on his own, knows that Eli would never blame him for what happened, knows all of this and yet he can’t stop blaming himself.  
  
With his mind on the fritz, Steve shoves himself out of the lone chair in the room and beings pacing, hands on his head in utter anxiety.  
  
This continues for around an hour before Steve is just so mentally and physically exhausted that he has to sit down again. He walks over to check on Eli. He leans down to feel his forehead, check his breathing, and make sure he isn’t actively bleeding. All things that were just done by the nurse forty minutes ago, but he can’t help it.  
  
With a sigh of relief, Steve brings the chair that he has grown to know too well tonight over to the side of Eli’s bed. Steve wants desperately to crawl into bed with Eli, but knows he can’t, because he doesn’t want to risk hurting him. Steve pulls the chair so close to the bed that his feet hide underneath it.  
  
He takes Eli’s hand in his own and brings it up to his face, gently kissing his boyfriend’s fingers. “You’re going to be okay. I know it.” His voice is soft and he smiles lightly. He adjusts himself in the chair and lays his chest on the bed and his head on Eli’s thighs, still holding Eli’s hand and hugging the other boy’s legs with his free arm.  
  
Steve holds onto Eli and decides he is never letting go. And with that, he drifts off to sleep.  
  
  
  
_What’s.. happening?_ Steve wakes up slightly to a sensation he is unfamiliar with. Eli is petting Steve’s head and combing his fingers through his hair. In absolute bliss, Steve is frozen in this position. He wants to savor this feeling for as long as possible.  
  
A few minutes pass before the realization hits Steve and he is washed over by a wave of emotions. His eyes burst open and he sits up so fast that he doesn’t even realize it. He sits there just staring in amazement.  
  
Eli chuckles at Steve, a soft smile on his face. “Good morning, Steve. How are you?” His voice is weak.  
  
No longer in shock, Steve stands up quickly to hug the boy that he has been so worried about all night. “Elijah! Oh my god, I am so relieved!” His voice is breaking, and Eli can feel warm tears wiping on the side of his face, but he doesn’t mind. He just hugs even tighter. Steve breaks away from their embrace to look his best friend right in the eyes.  
  
“What do you need, babe?! I’m right here, what do you need? Do you need pudding? I can get you pudding! Do you need more blankets? I can get those!” Steve starts frantically looking Eli over again to make sure he’s okay.  
  
Eli rolls his eyes. “Oh my gosh, NO, babe, please stop. I’m fine! Stop freaking out.” He chuckles lightly.  
  
Satisfied with Eli’s current state of health, Steve remembers his other concern. He embraces Eli again, both hands gripping the boy’s shoulders.  
  
“Elijah Leslie Pepperjack.  _Never_ scare me like that again. Okay? What were you thinking going out there alone? You could have died!” Tears rush down his face as he chokes out the words he’s been thinking all night.  
  
“I’m sorry, Steve.” Eli’s gaze moves to his hands, where his fingers are fidgeting. He can’t bear to look Steve in the face; it’s too embarrassing. “I wasn’t thinking. I guess I was just trying to prove that I could do things on my own. That I wasn’t useless...” His voice gets softer, trailing off at the end of his thought, immediately regretting it.  
  
“What? Useless! Eli, what on  _Earth_  would make you think that?” Sadness and confusion pour from his lips as he tries to make eye contact.  
  
“I don’t know! I just… Everyone else is so much more capable than I am. Everyone else gets to just run in to battle and I’m always stuck behind watching. I wanted to prove that I was useful for something…”  
  
“Eli, you are so far from useless.” There’s nothing but pure sincerity and kindness in his voice. “You help the Trollhunters all the time with your research and resourcefulness. And you’re doing so well in your training! You’ve made so much progress! And even without all that team stuff, do you have  _any_  idea how important you are to  _me_?” Steve takes Eli’s hands in his and gently squeezes them.  
  
Eli looks right at Steve in utter disbelief. “Wha… what?”  
  
“What do you mean, ‘what’? I’m not with you for no reason! You are the most important part of my life, Pepperjack. You have changed my life in ways I never thought possible. You have brought so much joy and love into my existence and…” He chokes on his words again, a giant lump forming in his throat. He never thought he would ever say something like this to anyone.  
  
“And, I honestly don’t know what I would do without you. I wouldn’t be able to survive if something horrible happened to you. You are my life!” He pauses to gather the courage to say the one thing he has never been able to. “Eli, I love you.”  
  
It’s as if time stops. Eli is absolutely dumbfounded. No one besides his parents has ever told him that before. He stares at Steve for a good two minutes before responding.  
  
Those two minutes feel like a thousand years to Steve as he awaits his boyfriend’s response.  
  
“Steve, I.. I don’t—” He’s interrupted.  
  
“No, no, nevermind, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I don’t know what came over me, I—”  
  
“Steve!” It’s Eli’s turn to interrupt. “Steve, I… I think I love you too.”  
  
Steve is filled with an incredible warmth as he finally relaxes his shoulders. “You… you do?” The smile on his face could light up a room.  
  
“Yeah, I really do. I love you, Steve.”  
  
Steve bounces up and starts cheering around the room, pumping his fists. “Wa-hoo!” He rushes over to Eli and takes his face in his hands and starts kissing him all over, hugging him, and just being generally obnoxious.  
  
“Ow, ow, okay, watch it! Still in the hospital here!” Eli laughs.  
  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” He backs up with his hands in the air. “I’m just so happy! I feel like my brain is exploding.”  
  
“I’m happy too. But also tired. Why don’t you come up on the bed with me?” Eli scoots over and pats the empty side of the bed.  
  
“Are you sure? I don’t want to hurt you.”  
  
“You could never hurt me, Steve.”  
  
He crawls into bed and embraces the love of his life. They cuddle in absolute bliss, and fall asleep.


End file.
